Studies and Monitoring

Olympic National Park

Olympic National Park (NP), Washington, has its own unique environmental concerns based on its particular ecology. Air quality studies and monitoring programs at Olympic NP focus on toxic air contaminants, nitrogen deposition, and visibility. Click on the tabs below to review air quality studies and key scientific references at Olympic NP, as well as to access information on air quality monitoring in the park.

Studies & Projects

Monitoring & Data

Key References

Ongoing research in Olympic NP, Washington:

Centralia: A Source of Nitrogen, Sulfur, and Mercury Pollution at Olympic NP

Located approximately 90 km from Olympic NP in Centralia, WA, TransAlta’s Centralia Power Plant is one of the largest stationary sources of atmospheric nitrogen, sulfur, and mercury in the region. These pollutants are emitted through the coal-burning process used to generate electricity at the power plant. Retrofit technologies have been installed to better control sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions, and reductions in sulfate have followed. Control of mercury emissions is currently achieved via existing controls for sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. The National Park Service currently requests better nitrogen oxide emission controls and continues discussions with other agencies and the owners of Centralia Power Plant.

Airborne Toxic Contaminants Impacts

Air currents transport contaminants such as pesticides, industrial pollutants, and heavy metals from their sources, and deposit these toxics in rain, snow, and dryfall at Olympic NP. The Western Airborne Contaminants Assessment Project found airborne contaminants in air, vegetation, fish, snow, and sediment samples from the park. Mercury concentrations in some park fish exceeded human and wildlife health thresholds (Landers et al. 2010; Landers et al. 2008; Schwindt et al. 2008). Further, logging practices in the Lake Ozette basin have led to high levels of mercury in bass from this coastal park lake (Furl et al. 2009). Supplementary research found changes in metabolic, endocrine, and immune-related genes in fish from contaminated lakes, as compared to fish from uncontaminated lakes (Moran et al. 2007). The Pacific Northwest Contaminants Workshop addressed regional concerns regarding contaminant distribution and effects. Additional research is examining whether contaminants disrupt reproductive organs in park fish. Contaminant effects upon amphibian populations at the park are currently unknown.

Nitrogen & Sulfur Impacts

Nitrogen emissions in the Pacific Northwest remain a concern for park managers (Fenn et al. 2003 [pdf, 895 KB]). Nitrogen deposition exceeds the critical load for lichen community composition in some polluted areas of the Pacific Northwest. In the Columbia River Gorge and the Willamette Valley, for example, sensitive lichen species important to wildlife have declined and been replaced by pollution-tolerant species (Geiser and Neitlich 2007; Geiser et al. 2010). However, surveyed lichen sites at the park were among the least polluted sites in the study region and do not exceed the critical load. These sites are strongly dominated by pollution-sensitive lichen species. Nevertheless, nitrogen deposition from adjacent sources (urban, agricultural, marine vessel) could affect high elevation alpine vegetation and surface waters on the park’s east side (Eilers et al. 1994 [pdf, 520 KB]).

Visibility Impacts

The PREVENT (Pacific Northwest Regional Visibility Experiment Using Natural Tracers) study found that sulfur is the largest contributor to reduced visibility reduction at Olympic NP, a result largely of power plants and urban emissions. Nitrates contributed about 10% of the visibility reduction at the park, and mostly result from nitrogen oxide emissions from pulp and paper mills or lime-kiln activity, fires, power plants, and transportation (Malm et al. 1994).